I want to change my AppleID password and want to do it well

Hello. Pressed by the recent news, I want to change my AppleID password and want to do it well. As an old mac user, my Apple ID is the same as my login on my old mac.com address. Still using an old Apple TV 1st generation (because it has a hard drive), I do not use two-step authentication (which is not compatible with this old device) and have instead three security questions and answers. I also use the same pswd for my accounts on my two macs.

Over the years, I discovered that: (1) requests for Apple ID authentication (login, pswd) and validation of authentication (security questions) become more and more frequent on all my devices including my iPhone (where inputting is the hardest) on Apple sites; (2) places where Apple ID authentication is required seem to be a growing lot (Keychain problems anyone ?) ; and (3) I found no way for my password manager (1Password) to be of any help here (except for logging into my Apple ID resources via a browser).

So it seems to me I want to devise a new password which is easy to remember and enter on my iPhone and everywhere else, decide on keeping or not the same pswd on my Apple ID and on my mac Login and draw the list and order of places I need to go to for changing my password. Then effect the change.

Any advice on [using 1Password for Apple ID or] devising a password which is strong and yet easy to remember *and input ?

Is it useful to keep the same password for Apple ID and mac login ?

For prudence and efficiency sake, where should I go first to change my Apple ID (web interface ? Mac preferences ? other ?) ?

How to make the list of other places to visit, then, to change my password there ?

Many thanks in advance.

Here's Apple's article on how to change the email address you use to sign in to your Apple ID: https://support.apple.com/en-us/ht202667

Regarding passwords: Strength comes from [seemingly] random combinations of upper case letters, lower case letters, special characters, numbers, and punctuation. Being able to remember them comes from using something called a mnemonic. First, come up with a question or statement that has some sort of special meaning for you. "I graduated from Harvard Law School with Honors in 1980". That, as a mnemonic, could become: IGFHLSWHI80! (or similar). From there, you do some additional tweaking like this: 1GfHLS180! (I used the number "1" in place of the letter "I" and changed the "F" in FROM to a lower case letter. The exclamation point at the end serves to include special characters / punctuation.

Some replacement ideas for letters:

A - @
E - 3
I - 1 or !
O - 0
S - $

The last piece of the puzzle is to consider categorizing the accounts and passwords that you use similar to the following (with guidelines):

LOW - This could be things like online forums where having your ID taken over / stolen doesn't really do any meaningful level of harm. Using the same username and password across multiple sites has risk, but the level of risk is reasonably low.

MEDIUM - This could be things like your emails and social networking accounts where having your identity taken over could DO or LEAD to harm. Consider making these passwords unique at each site and certainly different from any passwords used at any site in another category. Stronger, longer passwords make sense here.

HIGH - This could be things like your online access to financial accounts of any kind. Banking, credit cards, loans, and mortgages are "easy" to categorize here, but PayPal, eBay, Amazon, and other shopping and shopping-related sites can do you immediate and possibly irreparable harm. Using a unique email address (many sites provide "throwaway" addresses that tie in with your actual account), very strong unique passwords, and changing passwords very frequently is in your best interest.

Safari is capable of offering a very strong password when creating accounts in different sites. These passwords are very secure, but also very difficult to remember. Achieving true high security as an individual is a blend somewhere between ultra secure and super easy to remember because the best password is also the one you don't need to write down.

Two factor authentication (IMHO, Apple's version of this is junk and provides NO true additional security) would be the best option, but very few online services and such actually offer it.

Ember1205 said:

Here's Apple's article on how to change the email address you use to sign in to your Apple ID: https://support.apple.com/en-us/ht202667

Click to expand...

Thanks. This is very helpful.

My Apple ID is my secular mac.com address. I therefore do not have the option of changing my Apple ID, only the password associated to it. If I change my Apple ID's password, will that also change my associated mac.com mail address password ?

I see that the password must be 8 characters or more (no max), 1 figure or more, 1 low case letter or more, 1 upper case letter or more. On my iPhone, the standard keyboard contains low case letters and the spacebar. For convenience, even at the cost of using more characters (like 20 instead of 8), I want to minimise access to other than the standard iPhone keyboard. Is the spacebar (space) an allowed character ? TIA

You can probably access you password manager passwords on your iPhone, then copy it to the clipboard and paste it where you need it. Used to use LastPass, but a few months ago, switched back to Safari, to store my passwords. On my iPhone, if I need a password, I can go into Settings > Safari > Passwords, then put in my Passcode, or use Touch ID, to get to my stored passwords. Copy the password I need into the clipboard, and paste it in whatever app I need to.

ferrarr said:

You can probably access you password manager passwords on your iPhone, then copy it to the clipboard and paste it where you need it. Used to use LastPass, but a few months ago, switched back to Safari, to store my passwords. On my iPhone, if I need a password, I can go into Settings > Safari > Passwords, then put in my Passcode, or use Touch ID, to get to my stored passwords. Copy the password I need into the clipboard, and paste it in whatever app I need to.

Click to expand...

Thank you. I was not aware of that. Doing as you suggest indicated to me that: (1) my Safari keychain is a mess which I would need to clean-up before any use, and (2) Yes I can access my 1Password passwords from my iPhone. Entering the 1Password master password is so long that I would rather input my Apple ID password directly where and when asked. Beyond that, I agree that once you have found the required password, copy and paste is easy from safari and from 1Password.

michelangelo said:

Thanks. This is very helpful.

My Apple ID is my secular mac.com address. I therefore do not have the option of changing my Apple ID, only the password associated to it. If I change my Apple ID's password, will that also change my associated mac.com mail address password ?

Click to expand...

Bob may have already answered this and I missed it. If so. apologies to Bob.

Changing the password will not change the account itself.

Changing your iCloud password (which now is the same as your Apple ID password) is straight forward. Just follow Apple's directions.